


Think "Akata Witch" but worse

by The_Gray_Ghost



Category: Original Work
Genre: another WIP sorry guys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-07
Updated: 2020-11-07
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:00:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27438487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Gray_Ghost/pseuds/The_Gray_Ghost





	Think "Akata Witch" but worse

I sat at the plateau of the breaker and looked out over the ocean. I could hear Khudu calling my name, but I didn’t answer. I was exhausted, and we’d been practicing for hours. He immediately conjured a steady white ball between his hands, and I was left glaring at empty space where my sphere should be for the next ninety-some minutes.

“There you are,” Khudu muttered as he sank down beside me with a sigh. 

We had sat in silence for what felt like an hour when I finally turned to him. 

“Khudu, why can’t I do anything right?” I asked as fresh tears slipped down my puffy cheeks. “I can’t hunt, I’m no good at weaving, I lost us three cattle last year.” The longer I talked, the more panicked I became. “And to top it off, I can’t even conjure! What am I going to do at the ceremony?” 

The ceremony I spoke of was the coming of age ceremony or tribe held once a year. Each child that had reached the age of 17 stepped forward, presenting the fruits of their labors, demonstrating their position in the tribe. A hunter might present the antlers of an antelope he had killed and skinned himself. A weaver may hold up her finest cloth, embroidered with gorgeous patterns and designs. 

The ceremony was three months away, and looming ever closer. With nothing to show of my increasingly desperate attempts to find my trade, I was starting to get twitchy. 

“Beluchi, look at the sea. Which is stronger, the water or the rock?”

“Khu, this is silly!” I cried, nearly screeching with irritation and thinly-veiled panic. “Obviously the rock!”

“Look closer. At first glance, the rock may seem stronger because it is solid, and bold. But if you pay attention, you’ll see that the water is the stronger of the two. See the way the bottom of that rock is smaller than the top? That is where the water has beaten against the rock for years, and eventually the rock started to wear and crumble.”

I shivered as a cold wind blew against my bare back. “What does this have to do with me?” I asked quietly, feeling my cheeks tighten with the salt of dried tears and sea spray.

“The rock is the people of the tribe. At first glance, they seem brave and strong, like nothing can hurt them. But if you look closer, you’ll see that there is a sea of things biting away at them, tearing each of them down little by little. My young Beluchi, you are not like this. You are not like the rock, with the water bashing against it always, but you aren’t like the water either. You are the sun. You glitter against the top of the water, and you warm the rock and the water equally, with no judgement of either. You are not meant to stay here forever.”

I gawked at him, stunned, for a moment before I turned back to the sea. But now, instead of focusing on the crest of each wave as it rolled in, I stared at the glitter of the sun against the small, far-out waves. What did this mean for me, I wondered.


End file.
